The BBPA has reacted to a postponement of an imminent late-night levy in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds said:
“We had responded to the consultation and urged the Council not to go ahead with these plans. Whilst the delay is welcome, I will be urging the Council to have a fundamental rethink of the policy, taking the opportunity to reconsider and listen to views of local businesses especially given that a House of Lords Committee has recently published a report criticising the policy and recommending that the late-night levy is abolished.
“For vibrant London boroughs like Tower Hamlets, a damaging new tax on local business is the wrong approach, and the focus should be on partnership working, with the police and local business, to address any issues in the night time economy.”
The recently published House of Lords committee report regarding the Licensing Act 2003, looked at all aspects of licensing in detail, including levies.
The independent committee heard extensive evidence from all parties involved in the licensing system and concluded that “given the weight of evidence criticising the late-night levy in its current form, we believe on balance it has failed to achieve its objectives and should be abolished.”
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
David Wilson, Director of Public Affairs: 020 7627 9151/ 07557 436 033
Neil Williams, Head of Media: 020 7627 9156 / 07974 249 779
Tom Pratt, Campaigns & Communications Officer 020 7627 9155
Notes to editors:
The British Beer & Pub Association is the leading body representing Britain’s brewers and pub companies. The Association is more than a century old and was originally founded as the Brewers’ Society in 1904. Our members account for some 90 per cent of beer brewed in Britain today, and own around 20,000 of the nation’s pubs.
Neil Williams
Head of Media
British Beer & Pub Association